


A Change in Destiny

by TheGuardianKnux



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Friendship, Gen, Oneshot, potentially multichapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:10:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9148252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGuardianKnux/pseuds/TheGuardianKnux
Summary: After the Master Emerald is sent to another dimension with no way of returning, Angel Island sinks and Knuckles is left trying to figure out what his new purpose and life will be. Oneshot, potential multichapter fic.





	

Knuckles knew what he liked, and what he didn’t like.

For example, cloudy, breezeless days that rolled into one another without a second thought--he liked that. Humid summer evenings covered in the dull hum of june beetles and cricket chirps? Relaxing?

Waking up to find that your whole world and livelihood has been turned upside down in an instant and there was nothing you could do to stop this from happening?  
He absolutely loathed that.

It had been hours and he still hadn’t moved from his spot at the Master Emerald Shrine… Make that former Master Emerald Shrine. It was all so hard to process. The night before had been like countless nights before. He stood guard, curled up beside the glowing gemstone, and dozed for a few hours so he could wake up again and repeat said process over and over. He had accepted this: This was his life, these were his ways, none of that would change.

Or so he had thought.

The sound of crumbling cliff sides and the roar of a large island hurling back towards the ocean woke him up. Stumbling forward, he whipped around, looking for who could have ambushed the Emerald while he was asleep. This wasn’t the first time the Master Emerald had been in danger, nor was it the first time Angel Island had fell.

Yet everything felt off. His sensing abilities were acting haywire. Knuckles remembered clutching his skull as he tries to sort through all the fuzziness, trying to find the Master Emerald. Whatever thief had gotten onto his island couldn’t have gotten far.

Before he could have dashed off to go look, he heard a sharp tone just as a bright flash went off. The sound and the flash made him wince and pull his gaze up. Purple eyes widened as he saw the Master Emerald float off into the sky and… Disappear. 

No one had had a hold of it, no one else but him had seen this. Just like that, the Master Emerald was gone.

Knuckles had stared in horror at what had happened. Shock fell over him like a rockslide as he stared in a mixture of awe and terror. 

Before he had time to process just /what/ had happened, his flight or fight response kicked in as he ran towards the nearest edge of the island and jumped. Gliding off the island, he jerked his head back to see it crash into the ocean and rock back and forth, sending shock waves towards the mainland and flooding some of the Mystic Ruins in water.

Eventually once most of his shock had worn off he glided back, running up to check the Master Emerald Shrine over. The pink hues of the rising sun were his only light source as he combed the shrine, and then eventually the whole island over.

So now he stood still, staring at the spot where the former Emerald had laid. Physically exhausted, mentally awake, he stood in silence.

Two hours later he managed to tear his gaze away, hugging his arms. Well now what? He didn’t know where the Emerald had gone, he wasn’t sure where to turn to now- his mind was completely blank. What was next? Sit here and wait? Well how long would that take?

Closing his eyes, he bared his fangs in frustration before stomping off. Said stomp morphed into a fierce run as he darted off, found the biggest tree nearest to the shrine, and started to punch at it as hard as he could. Over and over, he dug his knuckles into the bark, yelling in frustration. He hated this! He hated himself! What was he suppose to do now? This was all his fault! 

When he was done, the tree laid in splinters on the ground. Knuckles stood above the pieces, panting, growling lightly to himself. His spines stuck out anxiously as he stared at the shattered tree, trying to calm himself down.

He had to get off the Island. He needed someplace to calm down that didn’t remind him of what just happened. 

 

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

 

“Don’t just stand and stare on my welcome mat! Come right in!” Amy chirped, much too cheerly for Knuckles’s tastes. He forced an awkward smile and gingerly stepped into her apartment, feeling out of place. Her living room was so… Girly, busy, way too bright. The walls were a light pink, the rugs on the floor were an off white. From his view at the front door alone he could see heart themed, sickeningly sweet furniture decorated the room, giving off a cozy yet suffocating vibe. The whole place smelt like peppermint incense. He held his hands up to shield his eyes when he realized that the wall opposite the door was covered in two large windows, letting in far too much sunlight.

Amy noticed and dashed off to draw the curtains over the windows, apologizing quickly, “Sorry Knuckles! I wasn’t expecting company so early!” 

Knuckles sighed, dragging himself over to her couch and sitting at the end of it stiffly, “I wasn’t expecting to even be here, first of all.”

Amy winced, looking away with a sigh once her lacy curtains were fully drawn over the windows. Something must have happened- yeah, Knuckles could be a stubborn jerk, but he usually didn’t sound so… Bitter.

Forcing a smile, Amy turned around and tightened the belt on her bathrobe, fixing her towel turban as she looked Knuckles up and down. He seemed anxious. She couldn’t recall a time she had seen his spines stick up from his dreadlocks like that. Not to mention his pupils were dilated, matching his uncomfortable, stressed grimace as he sat on her couch.

Tapping a slipper clad foot, Amy bit her lip for a moment before laughing awkwardly, “How about I make us both some hot coca? My treat?”

Knuckles gave a curt nod, staring down at the wood paneling of her floor. Laughing awkwardly, she slowly side stepped into her kitchen and started making two cups of ready made cocoa. Thoughts of calling Tails’s Workshop cycled through her mind. She felt lost- sure, she and Knuckles were friends, but Sonic and Tails… They knew him a little better than she did. They’d probably be able to tell what was wrong.

Even then, Amy knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to bring Sonic over. Knuckles wouldn’t get too open and honest if Sonic was here. She knew he’d try to push all of Knuckles’s buttons for his own amusement the moment he stepped through her door. Amy smiled a bit to herself in amusement for a bit till fully realizing the consequences of such a scenario, and quickly shook her head. One of her friends was in need! She needed to focus on that, not how amusing their fights were! 

Once the cocoa was finished she reentered the room, placing Knuckles’s mug down on a coaster before taking a seat across from him in a plush, heart shaped armchair. Sipping slowly, she tilted her head and collected her thoughts before asking, “What happened?” 

Silence filled the room, tension blanketing the air between her and Knuckles like a thunderstorm. Wincing, Amy set her gaze on Knuckles, watching him slowly blink down at his untouched mug. His hands flexed and unflexed as he stared, mulling over his thoughts. Amy almost thought he hadn’t heard her till he spoke up quietly, “The Master Emerald disappeared.”

“Disappeared….” Amy looked away, sipping her cocoa. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. All those other times though… Knuckles had gotten angry, and went to go hunt down whoever was responsible. This time he seemed so scared, so lost… Something big must have happened. Otherwise, why else would he be here?

Gathering her thoughts, she asked gently, “Who took it?”

“No one.” Knuckles muttered.

“... No one.” Amy wore an uneasy look, “Then how’s it missing?”

“I told you I don’t know!” Knuckles barked suddenly, tensing up. 

Amy winced and frowned, huffing back at him, “Don’t get all snippy at me for asking questions!”  
“I’m not!” Knuckles snipped at her, cheeks reddening a bit once he realized he was. Glaring at her now, he moved his legs up and hugged his knees to his chest, resting his muzzle on top of them with a loud snort, “I’m telling you what I saw, okay?!”

“Right.” Amy rolled her eyes, sighing and taking another sip of cocoa. She rested her cheek in her palm and eyed Knuckles curiously. There had to be more to this story, “So it disappeared, yet you didn’t see who took it?”

“Exactly.” Knuckles grumbled, spines sticking out more. He furrowed his brows and glared down at his untouched cocoa, making Amy roll her eyes.

“So did you see it disappear?”

“Yeah, I did.” Knuckles closed his eyes, starting to describe what he saw. That bright green flash mixed with a high pitched, ear piercing whine. The way the Master Emerald floated up into the night sky and disappeared without a trace.  
By the time Knuckles was done recounting his story, Amy had sat up with a look of shock and worry. T-that was so creepy! How could something so… Bizarre just happen out of the blue like that?! 

“It can’t be gone! Something like that’s never happened before right?!” Amy asked anxiously, shivering with nerves. She had to let Sonic know about this right away!

Knuckles stared down at the floor, answering only with a slow nod. 

Trying to drag herself out of her thoughts, Amy felt her heart twist with sympathy. Knuckles was usually much more confident than this… He looked so lost…  
“Knuckles…” she frowned and leaned forward, reaching her hand out and placing her’s on top of his. She gave it a gentle squeeze as she placed her mug of cocoa down, “I’m sorry.”

Knuckles didn’t lift his head up, yet rolled his eyes up to stare blankly into Amy’s own.  
“.... Thanks.”

Silence passed between them for awhile. Eventually Amy excused herself to go get dressed. Reentering the room with quills all brushed out and headband in place; she felt much more ready to help Knuckles deal with his problem.

She found him curled up in a fetal position on the couch, staring wordlessly at the wall across from it. Amy shivered and sat back in her arm chair, studying the echidna’s face for a moment. The pink hedgehog had to admit--she was surprised he had came to her first for advice. It pleased her to know that Knuckles considered her a good enough friend to trust her.

Tapping her fingers on the armrests of the chair, Amy spoke up softly, “Knuckles?”  
“Yeah?” He mumbled, still not sitting up.  
“There’s some positives to this situation.”

That got his attention. Alarmed, Knuckles sat up and gave her an odd stare, which soon turned into a scowl, “Are you kidding me?!” A heated edge pressed into his voice, making Amy shift uncomfortably, “The Master Emerald is gone and Angel Island is doomed to sink into the ocean!”

Smiling sheepishly, Amy pressed herself back into her chair and argued quickly, “Y-yeah, but now you have an excuse to explore wherever you want and do whatever you want!”

Knuckles bristled in irritation, standing up stiffly and glaring down at Amy. He trembled, nerves and anxiety sloshing about his stomach like a tidal wave. Clenching and unclenching his hands, he snapped, “This, this whatever just happened isn’t an excuse for me to go off on some sort of vacation and suddenly forget about my duty! I’m a guardian!” he punctuated with a growl, “It’s my responsibility to make sure the Master Emerald is returned to its shrine!”

That did it. She was done feeling sorry for him if he was going to act so hysterical about this whole thing!

Amy glared back and stood up, getting into Knuckles’s face, “Well if you don’t know what took it,” she started to snap, stomping forward with each word she spoke, “Or why it left you in a flash, then take this newfound freedom as an opportunity to screw destiny and show it who’s boss!”

Knuckles blinked in shock as his back met a wall. Swallowing thickly, he stared Amy down as his mind whirled in thought. Freedom…. That word….

I go wherever the wind takes me Knuckles! That’s what being free is really all about!

Grinding his teeth, Knuckles glared at the floor as Sonic’s voice rang in his ears. Of course he’d say something like that. It’s not like Sonic was responsible or anything! Just a selfish idiot who ran around the world, going on adventures, making… His own… Choices…

His stomach twisted as he thought about… All that freedom… That he could now… Have if he wanted to.

“Amy….” He mumbled quietly, staring at her door now.

“What?” She sighed, giving a concerned frown.

“.... You’re right.”

The pink hedgehog stared in shock before a small smile flashed across her face, “Really? You believe me?”  
Knuckles shot her a look before giving a slight nod, “Yes.”

Amy clasped her hands together, a bigger smile on her face as she thought about this. This was great! She had always been concerned about Knuckles! She understood his sense of duty to his job, but she always worried… If that was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He needed options! He needed to get out there and experience what living was really about!

“Come on Knuckles!” The pink hedgehog chirp in a giddy sort of glee, grasping his hand and pulling him over towards the door, “We need to treat you to some good sites around the city! And I’m not taking no for an answer!” 

“H-huh?!” Knuckles tripped over his feet and stumbled forward, feeling awkward as Amy dragged him towards her door. W-where were they going!?

Amy bounced up and down in delight as she grabbed her apartment key and purse in one fell swoop. Throwing the door open, she pushed Knuckles through first so she could slam it shut behind them.

 

Knuckles mind whirled as he wondered what Amy’s plan was. This better not be a waste of time.

 

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

 

He should have expected this…. Yet somehow, he hadn’t.

“Well, come on Knuckles! Pick out a chao of your very own!” 

Standing awkwardly, Knuckles watched as tons of baby chao crawled across the tiled floor slowly, babbling and exploring their surroundings. He had known chao migrating to different places across the world- so a chao garden in the city was to be expected. What he hadn’t expected was for Amy to try and convince him to adopt one.

Knuckles had considered it before. Chao were very friendly, loving creatures. Growing up he hadn’t seen any, but a year or two ago he had caught a chao migration. He remembered feelings of shock and awe as he had seen hundreds of chao floating slowly through the sky, or crawling tree to tree. They had moved across Angel Island with great haste, (well, with as much haste a chao could muster. They were small and kind of round after all.) The songs they had sung as they migrated…. Knuckles could till recall them in his memory.   
Amy felt curious as she watched Knuckles silently smile to himself.

Bending down, Amy whistled softly towards a group of chao basking and playing in a fountain towards the side of the room. Without hesitation a pink chao ran over towards Amy and embraced her in a hug. Giggling, Amy picked the chao up and stood up, turning to Knuckles with a goofy grin.

“This is my chao, Rosy!” She beamed, holding the chao up. Knuckles quirked an amused smile at Rosy’s owner, noticing that they looked similar. Of course Amy would own a running type chao that looked almost exactly like her.

“And you think I need one because?” He asked her, smiling a bit.

“Because it’ll provide you with some much needed companionship!” Amy beamed, cuddling Rosy close. The chao cooed happily in response and hugged her back, “You look like the chao type!”

“I mean I guess.” Knuckles wasn’t so sure. Chao took a lot of time and care to raise, or so he heard. Shifting awkwardly on his heels, he mumbled, “How do I pick one out?”

“Well I hatched mine.” Amy hummed, turning around slowly to scan the room for a potential adoptee, “But I bet you could just take one of the hatched ones and ask the breeder in the lobby if you can have it! It can’t cost that much!” Without hesitation she handed Knuckles over a few rings, making his eyes widen, “Go ahead and ask! Come on!”

Knuckles stared down at the rings in his hands, unsure of what to make of it. Currency… That was something he hadn’t needed to carry around till now. 

The echidna never expected Amy to be so generous.

Nodding, Knuckles strode back out into the lobby and went to talk to the breeder at the front desk. 

Here was something he wasn’t looking forward to: asking people for help.

Feeling tongue tied and awkward, Knuckles gave a little cough and put some rings down on the counter. A human woman jumped a bit, putting her book down with a sheepish look before gazing over the counter down at Knuckles, “May I help you?”

Nervous all of a sudden, Knuckles mumbled quietly, “How much is it to adopt a hatched chao?”

Unable to hear his full sentence, she leaned in and asked again, “What was it you wanted?”

Great. Now this lady probably thought he was stupid or weird or something.  
Gritting his teeth, Knuckles spoke up a little louder, “How much is it for a hatched chao?!”

The breeder gave an awkward grin and gently pushed his fist full of rings back, “Oh! You want to adopt.” Leaning back in her chair, she scrambled through some desk drawers quickly and pulled out a few sheets of paper and a pen, “W-well, first I’ll need you to fill out some proper certification forms in order to make sure no one else tries to bond with your chao whenever you’re away!”

Knuckles felt a surge of anxiety and stress suddenly roll through him. Amy never warned him that newfound freedom involved currency and paperwork!

“Great.” Knuckles grunted, feeling dejected, “Let’s. Get. Started.”

The human woman gave an awkward grin, sliding the papers over and a pen. In a haste, Knuckles started to fill them out.

One obnoxious set of forms later and Knuckles was back inside the garden, inspecting each chao thoughtfully. It made Amy giggle a bit as she watched him tiptoe slowly between groups of crawling chao. Many of them stared up at the echidna with wide eyes….. But the rest seemed to ignore that he was even there.   
“Well, at least he’s trying.” Amy hummed to herself, holding Rosy close and feeding her a hero’s fruit. Her chao cooed in response between bites of the delicious treat.

“.... Amy.”

Ears perking up, Amy turned around and gave a gasp as she stared up a familiar, yet unexpected face.

While this was happening, Knuckles soon felt like as though his search was becoming hopeless. None of these chao were speaking out to him! They all seemed… Average. Uninteresting. He wanted a chao that could grow strong! Was independent yet friendly, and a good leader! 

Before he could find said dream chao, he perked up when he heard Amy call out loudly in surprise, “Shadow! What are you doing here?”

Knuckles’s gaze jerked over in surprise as he saw said stoic black and red hedgehog standing there…. With a… Chao in his arms?

Expression unreadable, Shadow blinked slowly down at Amy and answered, as if it were obvious, “I’m checking up on my chao.”

“You have a chao?” Amy smiled brightly, standing up and holding Rosy up a bit so she could inspect Shadow’s chao.

“I do.” Was all Shadow answered with, adjusting his chao slightly. Like it’s owner, the chao barely reacted and sat stoically in his arms with an unblinking stare. Rosy didn’t seem bothered by this and reached out to gently pet the other chao with its stubby arm.

Shadow’s chao seemed to be a baby chao still. It was a greyish blue and had spines starting to grow out of the back of its head. Much like it’s owner….

Why would Shadow the Hedgehog want to raise a chao? Knuckles couldn’t help but wonder. Wasn’t he busy being an agent of G. U. N? He never expected Shadow to be the type seeking out companionship anyways.

“That’s wonderful!” Amy sang softly, bouncing up and down now, “What kind of chao is he? What’s his name? He looks so cute!”

That’s not how I’d describe it. Knuckles snarked internally, watching as Shadow’s chao made a face.

“His name is Chao.” Shadow answered simply, “He’s going to be a dark running type.”

“How wonderful! Let’s see if he and Rosy will play together!” 

“Hmph. Fine.”

Knuckles rolled his eyes and went back to searching for a chao of his own. How thrilling. Of course Shadow would be the type to take the fun out of chao raising. What kind of name was Chao for a chao anyways-

Before Knuckles could rant any further, he felt something grasp onto the back of one of his dreadlocks, making him squeak loudly in surprise before falling over. Landing on the floor with a thud, Amy jumped and whipped around to see what had happened.

The pink hedgehog began to laugh when she saw a larger than average chao poke its head out from behind Knuckles’s head, crawling on top of his face and singing a song of victory. That was hilarious! She never expected Knuckles the Echidna to be taken down by a chao of all things!

Shadow smiled to himself slightly, trying to hide it. How ridiculous-- to think a guardian of one of the most powerful artifacts on their planet could be taken down by such a weak being. 

Tried to sit up, flushed with embarrassment and anger but found it hard when there was a fat little chao sitting on top of his face!   
“Get off me!” He yelled, scrambling to pull it off.

The chao gave a snicker and latched on tighter, refusing to let go. 

Taking pity, Amy ran over and gently pulled the mischievous chao off of Knuckles’s face and held it up, making the chao hiss and squirm all about. 

“I think he likes you~” Amy chuckled underneath her breath, holding up the chao so Knuckles could get a good look at it.

Face twisted up in anger, Knuckles glared at the chao and tried to brush his spines down into place. The chao was pretty chubby, but seemed to be a regular baby chao despite... A devilish smirk it wore on its face.

Sighing, Knuckles was about to shake his head when Amy placed the chao in his arms with a soft smile, “Why don’t you try and bond with him?”

“He seems like trouble.” Knuckles grumped, holding the chao stiffly in his arms. Without missing a beat, said chao cooed and sat down, gazing up at Knuckles with a loving smile.  
It made the echidna shocked to say the least.

Trying not to smile, he gently pet the chao on its head and watched it give him a loving smile, purring with contentment. He suppose this wasn’t too bad.Appearances were deceiving.  
Caving, Knuckles held the chao close and stood up with a sigh, “Alright, I’ll take him- but what am I going to name him?”

Amy’s eyes brightened as she watched Knuckles’s new chao crawl up onto his dreadlocks--clinging to them like a koala. “Well that’s for you to decide! You’re his or her owner now!”

Knuckles twitched in irritation, growling softly, “Well I’ve never had to name anything before so help me out here!”

“His chao doesn’t have to have a name.” Shadow noted quietly, feeding his chao a dark fruit. It looked so strange to Knuckles. He knew Shadow had to have a heart but to see him caring for a creature much weaker than himself and acting so casual about it…. Pretty surreal.

Amy turned on her heels and huffed at Shadow, pouting now, “Every chao needs a name! Even your’s has one, from a technical standpoint!”

“Whatever.”

“Alright alright.” Knuckles sighed, pacing slightly as he tried to think up a good name. As he paced, this proved more and more difficult. What if his chao didn’t respond well to its new name?! 

Silence surrounded the three as Knuckles continued to think and Shadow continued to feed his chao. In a flash a name appeared in Knuckles’s mind, causing him to stop pacing suddenly with a small gasp, “I think I got it!”

Amy’s ears perked up and she couldn’t help but grin, “Ooo! What is it?!”  
“I’ll name him Tricky!”

There was silence again for a few seconds, making Knuckles feel embarrassed all of a sudden. Was that a weird name? It didn’t seem weird to him… This chao seemed mischievous yet… Loving…  
A pit started to form in Knuckles’s stomach as he stared down at the floor… Till Amy clasped her hands together and laughed a bit, “That’s a great name!”

“I suppose it suits him.” Shadow huffed, rolling his eyes. 

Brightening, Knuckles beamed with pride, hands on his hips, “Of course it is.”  
Shadow rolled his eyes again while Amy just giggled, finding Knuckles’s show of pride rather amusing.

~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~

Knuckles felt like his whole day was starting to turn around. He had almost forgot about the Master Emerald, Angel Island, his duty--all thanks to Amy showing him the sights and attractions of Station Square he had never seen before. It overwhelmed him, made him anxious, sometimes frustrated and yet… He couldn’t recall the last time he had had so much fun before. There was some variety in his day for once beyond resetting traps, building new traps, foraging for food. Today he got to try baked goods, go out for meals, adopt a chao- visit a theme park for crying out loud.   
At the end of the day Knuckles felt exhausted and yet… He craved to try more new things. To get out there, to experience new sights.

Hugging his knees close, he sat on the sandy sea shores of Emerald Coast and stared out at the moon glimmering just above the dark ocean waves. Anxiety writhed in his stomach like thorns and yet… His mind was drifting off somewhere else. To more positive, current things. 

Amy had been delighted to save one of her favorite places for last. She had barely been keeping it a secret all day.

Oh I just love the ocean Knuckles! I can never get Sonic to want to come out here--but I figured you wouldn’t mind since you’re not aquaphobic! 

Knuckles smiled to himself, feeling proud. Of course he wasn’t-- what kind of idiot was afraid of the ocean anyways.

As he sat and watched the waves stretch out to try and lap at his shoes, he vaguely wondered where Amy had wandered off to. She had told him to sit and wait while she went to go get something. What that something was, he couldn’t be sure. Before today he hadn’t known much about Amy beyond how determined she was to make Sonic date her while also being an independent adventurer herself. Why she wanted to go on adventures was anyones’s guess. If he hadn’t known Amy prior to today and had only met her in town, she wouldn’t strike him as the adventurous type. 

Yet she was, as Knuckles had gathered over knowing her for a few years now, rather adventurous in her own way. He admired how she found beauty and wonder in the little things--chao raising, roller coaster riding and such. It was pretty cute.

Not that he’d admit that out loud or anything! H-he wasn’t some sort of sap! 

Stretching out, Knuckles laid back on the shore and stared up at the stars, sighing to himself. Today had been nice, and he had had fun…. But where to go from here? Would the Master Emerald ever come back?

“And even if it did…” He muttered out loud, stretching his arms out towards the sky, “Would I want it to?”

I can’t say something like that--Angel Island is important. I’m it’s guardian! It’s my duty to look after it…

“Knuckles!” Amy sang, running back over to him and sliding to a halt.

Sand flew up and hit him in the face, causing him to curse and brush it out of his eyes with a glare. Bolting upright, he started to snap, “Watch where-”

Amy ignored him and pulled him close by the wrist, holding up a…. Bracelet made out of shells?  
Grinning, she tied it around his wrist with a cheery grin, “I finally finished it! I was afraid it was gonna take all night to finish--yet here we are!” 

Staring down at his wrist, Knuckles felt…. Shocked. Was Amy from another planet? All day she had been buying things for him, trying to make him happy… Now she had made him a bracelet out of shells….

“Why?” He mumbled quietly.

Amy rolled her eyes and let his wrist go, yet she was still smiling, “Why not? We’re friends right?”

Knuckles paused and answered with a curt nod.

Amy hummed and smiled pleasantly, “Then that’s what friends are for.”

“What do you mean?”

Amy paused, staring at Knuckles in mild surprise. Wasn’t that clear enough? What more was there to say?

Mulling things over, Amy took Knuckles’s hands in her own and smiled softly, “What I said: Friends do kind things for other friends because they want to and because they can. There’s no catch.”

No catch…. Knuckles stared for a long while and then smiled a bit to himself. Starting to relax, he nodded, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“I’m glad.” Amy started to walk along the shoreline. Knuckles followed wordlessly as they started to walk in a comfortable silence together. 

Knuckles stared down at the bracelete, rubbing it gingerly while smiling to himself.   
“Amy?”

Said hedgehog tilted her head and gave a gentle smile, “Yes?”

“Thank you.” Was all Knuckles said as they stared up at the stars together, walking and enjoying the calm, clear night.   
Why worry now- there was still time to figure out what to do. Right now he was starting to feel…. Free.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I wrote this as a oneshot, (since Winter break is almost over,) but it does have the potential to become a bigger work- especially if reception is good! So if you have time, I would appreciate reviews and feedback, but it is not necessary to make me want to update this fic. If you have to go as soon as you've read it, I understand and hope you have a great day!


End file.
